Tag Archives: MorganCountyMo

Hopefully you enjoy the perspectives I’ve tried to display here. Doors are not always the easiest things to capture and here are some examples.

Barn Doors and Cattle Gates

It’s not uncommon to see an old farm split by a road. In this case you add a pretty good curve where they’ve clearly painted double yellow lines to remind you it’s not a good idea ever to pass, much less stop and take a door photo.

Here’s the closest you’ll get without the steering wheel or hubby’s head in the way. Not to mention the tinted side windows aren’t very conducive to picture-taking.

Barn, Garage, and Farmhouse Doors

As you can see, Houston,we have a problem. The hood is factor #1. And there’s the issue of the cracked windshield #2. The space between that home and myself is #3. Around here, you just don’t go driving up a private drive even when most folks are pretty neighborly. There are factors like Meth manufacturer’s who try finding hiding places off the beaten path to make said meth, dogs who may or may not be friendly, and shotguns owned by the farmers trying to protect themselves. So…….

Filtered and Cropped

I’ll be using the cropping (no pun intended, dear farmers) and filtering available. You see, once a few years ago before I had shared in Thursday Doors, the hubby and I were driving down a road back home and were literally chased down by a farmer who didn’t recognize us. We pulled over, showed him my camera, the child in the back seat and did some name-dropping of “my people”. Once I explained who I was related to the area we were in, and then told him I was writing a blog post about barns in the county, he simmered down…. kind of. He clearly was a bit on the mistrustful and hostile side of the spectrum.

Another farm in the creek bottoms

And you can’t tell from here, but it’s split by the road as well.

Clapboard sided farm house

It’s sometimes a choice of which side of the road you photograph. We were between destinations with not a lot of sunlight left to play with so turning around was not in the cards that day. Guess we’ll have to take another drive sometime.

you’ll come to Mt. Olive Baptist Church. It was here that my grandfather was ordained as a minister in 1886. He was 39 years of age at the time and served as a pastor here 2 different times. The Versailles Statesman published that as of 1927, he’d married 125 couples, as well as conducted 225 funerals. I wonder how there could have survived all these years 2 Baptist churches so close to each other. This one was originally a log school house but burned and was rebuilt by 1914. It sure wasn’t a good-paying occupation as in 1912 the salary was $100.00 per year, payed by the quarter. No wonder they had to farm as well as be pretty much indispensable for weddings and funerals,prayer meetings, Sunday School, Sunday services and don’t forget the Revivals and Camp Meetings. Not to mention offering various sorts of family counseling for the sick or homebound, marriage counseling, excessive alcohol consumption or treatment of family or neighbors — some of these you certainly didn’t discuss in those days. Such a full time job for so little. As you ponder these things, I hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the photos we took as we wandered around the church yard.

Early Photo published in Florence, Missouri’s 160th Celebration. (glad I bought the book back in ’92)

I’m traveling back to my roots this ThursdayDoors. After a DNA test back in May of 2017, I’ve taken the deeper plunge to investigating the paper trail. But there aren’t just paper trails when it comes to these searches. There are places to visit. So the husband and I took a Sunday Drive last weekend since we had temps near 60 degrees and some sunshine. Can’t stay inside on a day like that!

First View

This is Bethlehem Baptist Church in Florence, Missouri. It was here that my Gt. Gt. Grandfather was pastor. Reverend Caleb H. Cramer ministered to this community and the surrounding area for over 50 years of his adult life. This church was home to a whole lotta family members. (You know they had a ton of kids back in the day.) Although I only live 25 minutes away, it’s my first time seeing it.

Front Door Entrance – Newer Doors

When choosing this site for the church, I’m sure the view overlooking the valley was a major deciding factor. “Build your house upon the rock” Matthew 7:24-45 is a favorite Bible verse of mine.

Original Portion of the church

From the State Historical Society of Missouri’s public pdf “Organized in 1846 in the home of Reverend B.F. Dinwiddie. The first services were held in a log building on the site of Harmony School, and the first land was purchased from Henry and Amanda Wagenknecht in 1869.”

I happen to have the Reverend Dinwiddie’s final resting place on the far left of this picture. This was a beautiful view of the valley below here.

Civil War Era Photo of my grandparents

About Grandpa,…..Born 1847 and died 1932. But the years between were a life filled with good works. I mentioned his ministry before and he also served in the Civil war in the Missouri Infantry Volunteers. Usually one thinks of most of the Civil War action beyond Missouri, but we actually had a considerable amount of action here.

Rev. Caleb and Mrs. Nancy Cramer

Wish I could see the twin doors in the background!!

Steeple View

Newer addition

Side door w/ramp

Newest addition to the back

I must say I have my husband to thank profusely. Ron, you’re my hero!! He’s been helping fill out that family tree and it is becoming huge!! Wowza! We’ve gotten back to 1621 in one branch. (I’m such a history nerd)

This past Sunday’s Drive took us through our neighboring county, Morgan County, Missouri. The idea of catching some great doors often hinges (no pun intended) on whether you might get threatened with a double barrel when pointing your camera at someone’s property. I’m still trying to educate my fellow rural Missourians on the world of blogging and our love of scenery. Doors included.

You can see there are a good amount of native trees surrounding the church. Literally surrounding it—as well as Virginia Creeper climbing its siding. Some are allergic to this vegetation, so leave it be.

Full Door View with lights intact, barely.

Side facing cemetary is fairly tidy.

Not a lot to say about this church as its website is non-operational when I click on it. But the church is listed as a member of the Lamine Baptist Association. So it is under care of a sort. The size of the cemetary suggests it certainly had a vigorous past that dated back to the mid 1800’s.

Opposite side walkway

A later addition to the back

Side door with top screen detached.

The hubby is braver than me on this occasion.

He took a picture of the interior and I could have shared it, but I made an executive decision to leave it out of this post. Would your conscious bother you?